100 Boron, Calif. Miners Locked Out by Giant UK-Based Rio Tinto Join L.A. Supporters at British Consulate with U.S. Flags

High Desert car caravan converges in L.A. at 11 a.m. Friday

LOS ANGELES, April 14, 2010 - Hundreds of miners and family members "locked-out" at Rio Tinto's borax
mine in the Mojave Desert join hundreds of supporters from across Southern
California sporting American flags as they protest Friday against the giant
UK mining corporation at the British consulate, 11766 Wilshire Blvd.

"We're converging at the British consulate because Rio Tinto is an
British-based global mining giant that's hurting an entire town of American
families who want to work ," says Kevin Martz, who operated heavy equipment
at the Boron mine until two and a half months ago when the firm locked him
and 600 other miners out of work for refusing to agree to a company ultimatum
demanding workers surrender their good-paying full-time jobs for part-time
temporary positions with few if any benefits, including eliminating Veterans'
Day as a holiday.

Rio Tinto operates the world's second largest borax mine near the tiny
town of Boron in California's High Desert about 100 northeast of Los Angeles,
notes Maria Elena Durazo, head of the L.A.. County Federation of Labor
(www.launionaflcio.org), organizer of the event. The mine is highly
profitable with near monopoly influence and only one competitor for the
world's borax supply. Rio Tinto reported net profits of US$4.87 billion last
year, a 33 percent increase over 2008.

The protest will feature hundreds of miners, their families, and
supporters from the Los Angeles labor movement waving American flags, a large
picket line and rally, and a heavy dose of U.S. blue-collar music from John
Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen and other artists.

Miners and their families will seek to meet with consulate officials and
ask the British government to urge Rio Tinto to end the company's lockout of
the High Desert families. U.S. government officials are investigating the
firm's lockout that Rio Tinto imposed on Jan. 31.

    WHO: One hundred Rio Tinto miners and their families plus hundreds of
    L.A. labor activists, Teamsters with their big-rig trucks and a biker
    caravan from the Port of Los Angeles, all displaying U.S. flags.

    WHAT: Picketline and rally outside Britain's L.A. consulate, calling on
    the British government to help end the lockout of 600 California miners
    working for the UK-based corporation.

    WHEN: Friday, April 16, 2010, 11:00 a.m.

    WHERE: British Consulate, 11766 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles 90025.

    VISUALS: A fleet of Teamster big-rig trucks will join a long car caravan
    of miners and family members from the Mojave Desert, circling the British
    Consulate on Wilshire Blvd. Hundreds of L.A. labor activists will wave
    American flags in front of the British Consulate at a giant picketline
    and rally.

Caroline O'Connor, Communications Director, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, +1-213-400-8401